I went to an Oktoberfest last Sunday afternoon. Over the previous few months, I assembled a complete and decent quality dirndl outfit: a nice embroidered dirndl with a lace apron in the US$200 range plus all the jewelry, undergarments, and shoes. I learned how to style my wig nicely in milkmaid braids. Most of my ancestors are from Bavaria, so my I looked the part from an ethnic perspective. My preparation took awhile but that was part of the fun. Even the weather cooperated nicely.
I had a wonderful time, thoroughly enjoyed the festivities. I don't drink, but the music, dancing, food, and games were delightful. A gentleman even asked me out on the dance floor for a few numbers, requests that I accepted though I had never previously danced as a female. I even walked across the dance floor to make a request of the bandleader, which he granted, the Radetzky March, my favorite. My dirndl drew compliment after compliment on how beautiful that I looked in it. I sure felt gorgeous wearing that distinctively female ethnic outfit. Among hundreds of people in rows and rows of tables and on the dance floor and in the food lines and the restroom lines, no one even gave me an awkward glance. I do not think that I pass that well, but nobody seemed to notice or care.
This was great fun. I thoroughly enjoyed my seven hours in my dirndl at the festival. Anyone else have an experience in a dirndl at an Oktoberfest?